David Petriashvili passes away

UEFA is deeply saddened to hear of the death of David Petriashvili, UEFA's senior project manager within the national associations division.

David, who was 46, passed away in Tbilisi, the capital of his native Georgia, in a car accident on Sunday.

David initially joined UEFA on 15 June 2011, and was promoted to senior project manager in 2013. David was the main contact for UEFA's 54 national associations with respect to UEFA's HatTrick assistance programme, helping to identify their needs and dealing in particular with financial matters relating to the associations' sporting and infrastructure projects under the programme.

During his time with the organisation he was also a member of the UEFA Committee for Amateur Football from 1998 to 2000, and vice-chairman of the UEFA Youth and Amateur Football Committee from 2000 to 2002. He served as a delegate at various UEFA matches from 1999 to 2011, and worked as a venue director for the European body.

All of those who had the pleasure of meeting David know that he was passionate and generous in nature. He was a popular figure at internal and external UEFA events, and gained the respect not only of his colleagues, but also UEFA's member associations for his competence and professional attitude towards his key role in helping the overall development of the game across the continent.

Before joining UEFA as a staff member, David worked in international relations for the Georgian Football Federation (GFF), and also played for FC Dinamo Tbilisi before taking up key roles in the Dinamo club's management, including as a board member.

On behalf of UEFA, we would like to convey our deepest sympathy to David's family at this sad time.